Williams Hardware
by Championship Vinyl
Summary: This is my first Gilmore Girls story, and way overdue at that, so I hope it lives up to my expectations. And yours. Before Lorelai, before the diner, before his dad's death, here, at last, is the story of Luke Danes. PUH-LEEZE read and review!
1. Stars Hollow, Connecticut, 1978

.

**(Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls. I own nothing. These aren't even my pants.) I've been an avid and loyal Gilmore Girls fan for three years, and am a severe Lukist (as opposed to Christophrite). (Who could NOT love Luke Danes?) I wanted to give Luke a past, much like I did for Dimitri in "Journey To A Different Past." (Also, I took the liberty of assuming his dad's name was William, since no one ever said it on the show, the store is William's Hardware, and their last name is Danes, so that can't be it.) Notice the similarities between Luke and his dad, and we'll find out why he wears his hat backwards...:-) Please R & R. Enjoy. **

.

.

"Dad? _Dad?_ Where's that order receipt?"

Lucas Danes slapped the baseball cap back onto his head and climbed out of the heap of boxes in the storeroom. Bolts and hammers and God knows what else were strewn all over the floor, and he had to be careful not to lose his footing.

"Dad!"

Finally, William poked his head through the doorframe. "_What?_" His attention then went to the phone that was wedged between his shoulder and ear. "No, no, Mr. Porter, I've only got _two_ of the nine-grade down, two of the Craftsman, five calk. No? Look, if _your _numbers don't match _my_ numbers, then take a math course, 'cause _one_ of us has a problem here and it sure as hell ain't _me_. Yeah, I'll hold."

"Where'd you put that order receipt for Mr. Callahan?" he asked, digging through a drawer. The bill of his hat kept hitting the ledge every time he went in for a closer look.

"Oh, don't tell me it didn't come in," William sighed.

"It didn't come in."

"Great. Top drawer, to the left. Oh, and---Luke."

"What?"

"C'mere."

Luke approached his father, and in one quick motion, William turned his hat in the opposite direction. "Easier that way," he explained.

At that moment, a series of loud, hollow bell sounds could be heard from the square outside. William nearly dropped the phone. "Agh, damn bells---Luke! You're late for school!"

Luke cringed at the mere mention of that place. He kept writing. "I don't need to go to school. I can help here with the orders."

William, however, was having none of it. "You're eleven, Luke. You're going to school." He grabbed his son's shoulder and steered him toward the office. "Now go upstairs, get your books, and don't come back without an education!"

"Yes sir," Luke grumbled, and trudged up the steps. He would go, all right, but he no one ever said he had to _like_ it.


	2. Not Enough Cream Pies

.

**Same day. You'll notice some Jess-like tendencies and some familiar characters, some of whom you'll see more of.... :-) Read and review, review, review! **

.

.

Four wheels clattered through the square as Luke made his way to school, but they weren't the wheels of a car.

"You know, Lucas, one of these days you're going to break your neck on that skateboard," called twenty-six-year-old entrepreneur Taylor Doose from the sidewalk.

If William had been there, Luke probably would've just ignored the unwelcome advice. But, since William was nowhere in sight..."Shove it, Mr. Doose."

Luke left Taylor gaping behind him and sped for the small campus of Stars Hollow Middle School.

"Hey Luke."

He hopped off his skateboard and turned around, and a blonde girl stood behind him, the same one as yesterday.

"Get away from me, Carrie." _Crazy Carrie is more like it_, he thought.

She didn't seem to take 'no' very well. "I'll see you at Trina's boy-girl party?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure," Luke called, walking away, "And while you're at it look for Marcia Brady and The Fonz, too."

The bell rang just as Luke made it up the steps and grabbed the handle of the 'historic' door. He would be a little later to class than he'd thought, though, because Principal Meyer stood, arms folded, on the other side. He gave Luke a menacing glare.

"And where exactly did you think you were going at eight-o-two, Mr. Danes?"

"Well, I _was_ going to _class_....But now, your office, I'm guessing?"

Meyer nodded.

"I get a detention now, don't I."

Meyer nodded.

With a sigh, Luke followed the principal into the school.

After a ten-minute lecture on 'the benefits of punctuality,' Principal Meyer released Luke to his classroom. He handed the scribbled yellow slip to Mrs. Albernathy, removed his hat, and took his seat.

"Okay, class, as I was saying, today we will be covering the history of Shakespeare. You won't actuall read any of Shakespeare's work until grade nine, but it's equally important to know about the man himself. Please get out your books and turn to page thirty-eight, after the illustration."

_Great_. Luke's mind flashed to the desk back at the hardware store, where his English book was the only one that still sat there.

He leaned over in his seat and tapped the desk of an accquaintance of his. "Ed. Hey, Ed," he whispered. "Can I use your book?"

"Mrs. Albernathy!" A voice rang out in the back of the classroom, and a hand shot up to go with it. "Luke doesn't have his book!"

"Shut up, Bootsy!" Luke growled, whirling around in his seat.

"_And_ he's trying to get Ed to let him use his."

"_Shut up_, Bootsy!"

"Fair is fair, Luke."

"Boys!" Mrs. Albernathy silenced. "Lucas, is this true?"

"Yes, ma'am," he relented.

"Then, I'll expect a two-page essay from you on the siblings of Shakespeare, tomorrow morning." She turned back to the board and continued talking, and Bootsy looked very satisfied with himself.

_Fine,_ Luke thought. He ripped a sheet from his notebook and wrote down, _My Essay: by Luke Danes. Shakespeare had siblings. The end._

He smiled as he put the cap back on the pen. No teacher could possibly expect him to be serious about homework---not when he had work to do at the store.


	3. A Family Matter, The Early Years

.

**More fun, and we're introduced to another familiar character who, no matter what her troubles, always loves her "big brother." :D Read it because you're here, review it because I'm a review addict, enjoy it because you can. ;-)**

.

.

The bell on the door gave off its annoying jingle, and Luke looked up from the counter as another potential customer walked into the hardware store. Except, _this_ customer, Luke knew, didn't want tools.

Taylor eyed him with a cautious glare. "Lucas," he greeted.

Luke just rolled his eyes, and cocked his head toward the back room. "Dad!"

The two of them stood there locked in an uncomfortable staring contest until William emerged from the back. "Yeah?" he said, fastening his cuff links.

"Mr. Doose's here."

William noticed Taylor standing there. He didn't mess around with any trite smalltalk. "What do you want, Doose? It's a Saturday. I'm on my way to a meeting with my lawyer."

"I can't imagine why you'd need one," Taylor muttered under his breath. He regained his composure, and carried on. "Mr. Danes, Mayor Porter is concerned that your facility isn't being kept up to regulations."

"I just saw Porter at the town meeting, Doose. He didn't say a word. _You're_ the one with the problem."

"Mr. Danes, if you could just spruce the place up a bit---" Taylor pleaded, but he was cut off as WIlliam ushered him toward the door.

"Sure---as a matter of fact, I'm getting rid of a hundred and eighty pounds of needless annoyance right now. Goodbye, Taylor, I'll see you at Patty's on Thursday."

And just like that, a bewildered Taylor stood on the other side of the door once again. Luke tried not to smile as William turned to him with instructions.

"Now, kid, I'll be in Hartford for about three hours, so the store's closed up, don't go knocking off any liquor stores, yada yada yada. Make sure Lizzy eats her supper. Be good."

"Daddy Daddy Daddy!" a squeaky voice cried. Luke turned around in time to see his seven-year-old sister tearing down the stairs and through the store. "Wait!"

William sighed and hoisted Liz up into the air. "What now, Lizzy?"

"I had a bad dream."

"Aw, you did?" William winked at Luke out of the corner of his eye. "You know what? I've gotta go to a very important meeting now, but I'm sure your brother will listen all about it. Won't you, Luke?"

"Yeah," Luke chipped in, always willing to help his little sister. "You can tell me, Liz."

William set her back down and she ran to Luke, and with a wave, William slipped quietly out the door.


	4. Danes Men And Caffeinated Women

.

**More characters, more William, and a little fatherly insight. Lots of things mentioned that tie in directly to storylines in the show! If you catch 'em all you get a dollar. (And I lied.) R. R. Enjoy. **

.

.

"So he just packed up and _left?_"

"I dunno! Tilly wouldn't say, the old cheapskate. She's getting crow's feet, too."

Patty leaned farther across the shelf and gave Babette a knowing look. "From what I hear Doctor Lang will put an end to that!" Both women burst out laughing, which drew the attention of the proprietor.

William walked over from behind the till. "Afternoon ladies."

"Oh, good afternoon, sugar."

"You _are_ aware that this is a hardware store and not a lounge, right? Why don't you have this conversation out there?"

Patty looked aghast. "William, honey, _please_. Have you seen what's going _on_ out there? You can't hear yourself _think_! And buisiness would really go up around this place if you put some chairs in here."

William ignored the last part. The first part had caught his attention enough.

He stalked suspiciously past Babette and Patty and out the door. In the street, Taylor Doose was directing a crane that was about to drop a massive sign on the front of the building next door.

"Doose!" William bellowed. "What the hell is this?"

Startled, Taylor motioned for the driver to stop, and walked casually over to William. "Mr. Danes, I know that you own the place next door, but I had my hopes that this would convince you...."

"Convince me _what_." Williams Doose-patience was running dangerously low. "What the hell does that say?"

Taylor looked quite proud of himself. "Why, _Taylor's Commemorative Plate Imporium_, of course."

_I don't believe I just heard that._ "Commemorative plates."

"Yes sir, Mr. Danes, I kid you not. Now, uh, if you're interested in selling or even leasing the space, we could talk numbers...."

"_Look_, Doose," William sighed. "I'm already exhausted, and it's not even three-o-clock. So I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll give you exactly two minutes to get that thing out of here before I bring out the hoses. Okay?" And he walked away.

As he approached the front door of his building, he saw the figure of a slim, short-haired woman standing on the front step. She stepped out when she saw him coming.

"It's been too long, William. And you're still as impossible as I remember."

His smile was genuine, his greeting warm. There wasn't a soul in town who could turn this woman away.

"Mia! My God, look at you! How have you been?"

She gladly returned the hug he gave. "Fantastic. If I was ever out of my mind enough to leave this town for good, I'd be back in California for sure."

"You couldn't do that to us, Mia. Stars Hollow needs a little sanity."

"And I need my inn!" she laughed. "I went crazy having nothing to do all day."

"Well, that's what vacations are _for_."

"And they're overrated," Mia pronounced. She looked him over a moment. "Do you still make the same amazing coffee I remember?"

"To some." William led her inside the store. "Wait at the counter, I'll make you a pot upstairs."

"I'd be forever grateful." Mia took one of the two mismatched chairs before the register and sat, while William took the stairs to his office. A quiet minute passed, until the bell above the door jingled, and Mia swiveled around. A warm smile covered her face.

"Lucas! Oh, it's been so long, just look at you."

"Oh, hi, Mia!" Luke dropped his skateboard on the floor and tried subtly to hide the _Star Trek_ logo on his shirt.

"How have you been? And your sister?"

"We're good. Are you staying back?"

"Yes," she laughed, "I'm staying. The Independence Inn can't go on without me!"

"Well, that's good."

"It's good to see you, Lucas."

"You too."

William returned from the office then, a pot of fresh coffee in one hand. "Here you are, the Danes family recipe for a very special customer. Luke, there you are! Any homework?" He poured Mia a mug.

"Nope. What can I do?"

William shook his head. "What _can_ you do?" he chuckled. "It's slow today. What you can do is go be a kid."

"Well, there's got to be _something_ that needs to be done---did you finish stocking the shelves?" Luke protested.

"Yep, it's all done, nothing left till tomorrow. Now go do something stupid."

"But..."

"Ah! Father knows best!" William silenced. "Go on. I'll find you if I need help." Luke relented and headed for the door again. Before he left, William added, "Trust me, son. Enjoy it while you can. You'll thank me one day."


	5. This Is Your Life

.

**Second-to-last chapter at age eleven, and all I can say is, _heeeeeeeere's Kirky!_ (Evil grin.) Enjoy, R&R, you know the drill.**

.

.

Every time Coach Farland blew a long blast on that stupid inane whistle, Luke felt like ripping the thing out of his hand. Like now, for instance.

"All right, class, give me one more lap and you can go for the day!"

Sighs of relief went up from the students as the entire gym class headed around the floor one more time. Luke finished ahead of most of them---Farland was always saying he should go out for the track team in high school, but that was too far off for Luke to worry about.

In the hallway on the way back to his classroom, Luke noticed that one of the scrawny second-graders had begun to follow him. He stopped, turned, and found Kirk Gleason grinning there at his elbow.

"What?"

"You're a fifth-grader, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Do fifth-graders still carry blankets to school?"

_Man, this kid is wierd._ "No! Why, do you?"

"No," little Kirk lied. He tried to hide his blanket behind him. "Mom said this is a jacket." Luke walked on, but the kid was still there. The bell was about to ring, and Luke knew he'd just as soon follow Luke into the fifth-grade room than go to his own.

"Stop following me, Kirk," he tried.

"But the cool kids are in there."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Kirk, I'm serious. You'll be late."

Still the kid just stood there. An a last attempt, Luke slipped into the classroom and ditched him on the other side of the door. Peeking back out the window, he watched as Kirk pick up the spelling book that a fourth-grader had knocked out of his hands, looked around, and ran in the direction of his own room.

_Phew._ Relieved, Luke turned around, glad to be on time for class.

"Excuse me, son, are you in the right place?" A kind voice said.

Confused, Luke looked around. There was no Mrs. Albernathy, or Bootsy, or Carrie, or anybody. He'd ducked into the wrong room.

As if fate had pulled the trigger, the bell rang.

"Sorry," Luke muttered, and he turned around, pulled open the door, and walked back to room nine.

Rejoining his class, there was a hush of laughter throughout the room.

"No note, Luke?" Mrs. Albernathy inquired.

"No ma'am." He slid into his seat, and no one said anything more about it.

Well, _almost_ no one.

"You're late, Luke," Bootsy hissed from behind him.

"How many times a day do I have to say _shut up_, Bootsy?" Luke whispered back.

"That's not very sportsmanlike."

"Well we're not _playing_ a sport."

"That doesn't matter."

"Yes it does."

"My dad said it doesn't."

"So? My dad could squash your dad. Don't you have somebody else to bother?"

"Not right now."

Mrs. Albernathy cleared her throat, and the boys both looked up. They hadn't noticed that the entire class had been staring at them.

"Sorry," they both squeaked, and returned their attention to their desks.


End file.
